–We first went to deliver medicines to a Palestinian at  Beit Ummar. Immediately 4 soldiers including a lieutenant colonel and a  captain  hurled themselves at us,  saying we were not allowed to be there. Shlomit demanded that they show us a closed army  area notice which,  of course, they did not have. When the Palestinian arrived, we were worried that they might stop him but they made no problems and did not even check what the parcel held. Amazing how two elderly ladies can terrify the IDF. Amazing how much they rely on fake commands to keep Palestinians from knowing what is  happening. Do the soldiers even know what they are doing? Why is one entrance more threatening than another? Or is this like the sudden barriers which the army loves to put up every now and again and then take down, also with no reason, because they don’t want to be late for afternoon tea?

There were fifteen  people waiting, including elderly women. A large group had already gone but no one had exited. One man had just come out of jail, after  having been there a long time. He was 32. In the beginning he was reluctant to talk but when Shlomit assured him that we had no interest in the reasons of why and wherefore he became more friendly. He weighs 52 kilos.  Since Ben Gvir came into power, he had lost 15 kilos in the last months.   Read the pdf below. The man had been ordered to come in to speak to the captain…who of course, was not there. The IDF had not bothered to tell him the captain would not be in. After all, as he had been in jail for  a long time, what difference did a few hours more make.

One man was waiting for his brother who had been called in. He had gone in at 9 am and now after 13.00 had not come out.

A couple came  who needed help with an operation which the woman had to undergo in Jerusalem. We gave them Sylvia’s number.. They said she was their sister and  we assured them that she was in good health.